Turkey Taunts the West

In a report by the Associated Press today, Turkey lashes out at the west in a dispute over the Netherlands’ blocking of Turkey’s ability to campaign in the Dutch country’s presidential election. Last week politician Geert Wilders has said he would prevent all Turkish officials from campaigning in the Netherlands. The AP report states that with the large populations of Turkish expatriates, cabinet members from Turkey were planning on traveling to European countries to gather support for an April 16 referendum to increase Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s powers.

Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya, Turkey’s family and social policies minister, was scheduled to address crowds in Rotterdam, Netherlands on Saturday, to campaign for the referendum in Turkey. However, she was not allowed to enter the the Turkish consulate. After a standoff with police, she was escorted back to the German border. After Kaya’s removal, Rotterdam police arrested 12 people as demonstrations outside the consulate turned violent. Police were attacked with bottles and rocks according to police spokeswoman Patricia Wessels.

The AP reports that earlier in the day, the Netherlands denied Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu entry to address demonstrators in Rotterdam. President Erdogan said today, “I thought Nazism was over, but I was wrong. In fact, Nazism is alive in the West”. Erdogan also stated, “If you sacrifice Turkish-Dutch relations to the elections on Wednesday, then you will pay the price”.